Posie’s Place

As many of my regular readers may have noticed the frequency of my posts lately has waned.

I haven’t had much of an appetite recently and have had absolutely no motivation to cook the reason for this is very simple..

I’m almost 10 weeks pregnant with our first child! Everything is going well and we’re both delighted.

We were back in Glasgow last weekend to share the news with family and friends there and now that we’ve had time to let all of our friends know I thought I would share the happy news with you too my dear readers.

Have no fear the main focus of this site will remain food but as ever I may share some of my other musings from time to time.

In my posting absence I have been tagged by a couple of my favourite foodies Paz and Rosa for a couple of great meme’s..

The first of these meme’s is the Butterfly Effect from Paz.

According to Paz the Butterfly Effect meme..

asks you to name food items or events which changed your life. Specifically you are asked to recall “an item, place, event or person” that affected you profoundly - something that created a moment you can look back at and say “that was a moment”. It doesn’t have to be a “big splashy” thing, instead it can be something “small and simple” - something that changed your view of the world.

These are the categories:

1. An ingredient
2. A dish, a recipe
3. A meal (in a restaurant, at home or elsewhere)
4. A cookbook or other written work
5. A food “personality” (chef, critic, writer etc..)
6. Another person in your life

This is a really toughy for me and took considerable time for me to decide upon my answers but here goes..

1. My favourite ingredient - Chilli - I LOVE IT!!! I am a complete chilli addict from stews to curries it is definately my top ingredient and next to garlic I couldn’t imagine my life without it.
2. A dish or recipe - Traditional Steak Pie - I cannot believe that I haven’t posted my recipe for steak pie, it is such a traditional Scottish dish. No one makes steak pie like my grandmother and I would never make such a claim but it is pretty yummy. Promise I’ll make it soon and post it.
3. A meal - Gareth’s Exceptional Enchiladas - On one of our trips back to Glasgow Natalie and Gareth invited us over for dinner and Gareth made enchiladas. They were without a shadow of a doubt the most delicious enchiladas I had ever tasted. I posted the recipe thanks to Gareth in July.
4. A Cookbook - Delia Smith’s How to Cook Series - This series of books teaches the very basics of cookery with excellent fool proof recipes. To me volumes 1-3 are my cookery reference guides and I still draw upon them.
5. A food personality - Jamie Oliver - It really annoys me how the UK press still constantly pick on Jamie and his family when all this guy does is to try and improve the lives of children. His campaigns to improve the standard of school dinners and all of his hard work in the establishment of his charity Fifteen are unsurpassed. Not to mention your wonderful cookbooks!
6. Another Person in your life - My best friend Natalie - When Natalie and lived together many years ago Natalie didn’t cook at all but after many years of being at uni away from home Natalie is an absolutely amazing cook!! We can spend hours talking about food or sharing recipes and have a very similar taste in food. Her cooking is inspirational.

Thank you to Dan for providing this meme in the first place.

The second of these meme’s is the Bizarre Meme from Rosa.

Take the first book that you find underhand, open it on page 18 and copy what’s written on the fourth line from the top.op:

Here is what is written in the new book The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid from one of my favourite authors Bill Bryson.

Like most people in Iowa in the 1950’s, we were more cautious eaters in our house. On the rare occasion when we were presented with food with which we were not comfortable or familiar - on planes or trains or when invited to a meal cooked by someone who was herself not from Iowa - we tended to tilt it up carefully with a knife and examine it from every angle as if determining whether it might need to be defused. Once on a trip to San Fransisco my father was taken by friends to a Chinese restaurant and he described it to us afterwards in the sombre tones of someone recounting a near-death experience.

‘And they eat it with sticks, you know’, he added knowledgeably.

‘Goodness!’ said my mother.

‘I would rather have gas gangrene than go through that again,’ my father added grimly.

What was the last program you watched on TV ?:

My Name is Earl - absolutely hilarious comedy starring Jason Lee who won a million dollars but is trying to set karma right by putting right his wrongs from the past.

Without verifying, try to guess the time it is?:

8.30am

Check out. It is:

8.40am, I wasn’t that far out..

Which noise can you hear apart from the one of your computer?:

The noise of my cat Tasha snoring!! Other than that it’s really quiet.

When did you go out for the last time and what did you do?:

Went to Derek and Estelle’s to watch the France vs Scotland football match. I’m still in complete shock that Scotland won 1-0!!!

What are you wearing now?:

Comfortable stretchy cotton pj’s.

Before you started this meme, what were you looking at?:

The meme from Paz as above.

Did you dream this night?:

Yes but I can’t remember what I dreamt about something to do with the Sopranos - I have very strange dreams these days!

When did you laugh for the last time?:

Earlier when I watched My Name is Earl.

What’s on the walls of the room in which you are?:

Nothing on the wall but lots of pictures around the room.

Did you see something strange today?:

No I haven’t been out today.

What do you think of this meme?:

I’m enjoying it.

Which was the last film that you saw?:

The remake of ‘Assault on Precinct 13′ made in 2005 - in my opinion it didn’t stand up to the original which was so much better.

IIf you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would be the first thing that you’d buy?:

The first thing would be a house and then I would check to see what the rest of my family would like.

Tell us something about you that we don’t yet know:

My baby is due on 11th May 2007.

If you could change something in the world apart from culpability and politics, what would you change?:

The climate of fear in today’s world.

Do you like dancing?:

I LOVE dancing!

Georges Bush?:

He really, really scares me.

Which name would you choose if you had a girl?:

I would prefer not to give away any possible names at the moment

And if it was a boy?:

Same as above..

Have you ever thought about living in a foreign country?:

If I had to leave Switzerland but was permitted to stay in Europe then I would choose to live in Germany but if I had to choose a country outside of Europe then it would need to be an English speaking country like Australia, Canada or New Zealand.

What do you want God to tell you when you go through the doors of Paradise?:Welcome!

Come in and pull up a chair and relax!

Which are the 4 other bloggers that you’d love to tag:

I would like to tag any of my readers who enjoyed these meme’s!!